Six Michigan officials criminally charged in Flint water crisis

Another Flint resident, Keri Webber, said her daughter, Stephanie, got Legionnaires' in August of 2015 at the age of 20 and survived it.

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - Robert Skidmore was born in Flint, raised a family there and lived his entire life in and around the blue collar town that - next to Detroit - was synonymous with manufacturing of cars and trucks.

Yet Snyder, who on Wednesday offered a statement in support of Lyon and Wells, continues to evade accountability.

Dr. Eden Wells, the MDHHS Chief Medical Executive was also charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer. Lyon is facing the most serious charge of involuntary manslaughter.

January 5, 2016: Snyder declares a state of emergency in Flint, the same day federal officials confirm that they are investigating.

According to Lonnie Scott, executive director of advocacy group Progress Michigan, the new charges stemming from Schuette's investigation "show that the failure in Flint lies squarely at the feet of Governor Rick Snyder".

Lead levels in Flint's drinking water have now fallen below levels considered unsafe by federal regulators, state officials said last January. We have a lot of people gone.

Attorneys for Wells and Lyon did not respond to a request for comment. "We all are waiting to see what else the investigation uncovers". Legionnaires' disease is a serious form of pneumonia caused by bacteria. About half of the people who got sick with Legionnaires' disease spent time at the hospital during the time of the outbreak. Lyon said the research wasn't something the state could afford, despite a doctor's response that the decision could "cause more people to die".

During a meeting, Dr. Paul Kilgore, an associate professor at Wayne State University, stressed the necessity of the research, stating that more people would die.

Snyder's attorney, Brian Lennon, said in a statement that Snyder was made available to testify under oath this spring after being told a subpoena would be produced, but that never occurred. During the crisis, caused in part by substandard water treatment, 100,000 residents were exposed to elevated levels of lead, a risky neurotoxin, and were at elevated risk for Legionnaire's disease, a waterborne illness linked to 14 deaths in the city since 2014.

Five people, including the head of Michigan's health department, were charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter in an investigation of Flint's lead-contaminated water, all blamed in the death of an 85-year-old man who had Legionnaires' disease. Furthermore, Lyon allegedly participated in covering up the source of Genesee County's Legionnaires' Disease outbreak by repeatedly attempting to prevent an independent researcher from looking into the cause of the outbreak.

Howard Croft, former Flint water department manager. "There's several parties that have motivations outside of the raw basic interest of finding justice for the people of Flint".

STEPHEN BUSCH - Stephen Busch served as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality District 8 Water Supervisor, a position which would have allowed him to order the Flint Water Treatment Plant be shut down because it was not producing safe water. "But no additional charges at this time have been filed".